July 2026 Member Highlight: Justin Browning
July 2026 YPT-DC Member Highlight
American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Emerging Leaders Program (ELP)
Justin Browning is a Senior Insights Analyst at AlphaVu, where he helps organizations turn complex data into actionable decisions. His work sits at the intersection of analytics, customer experience, public opinion, and stakeholder engagement, with a particular focus on transportation and mobility. Drawing on a background in anthropology, Justin approaches data through a human-centered lens, combining quantitative analysis with an understanding of the people, behaviors, and communities behind the numbers.
Over the course of his career, Justin has partnered with transit agencies and public-sector organizations across North America to analyze customer sentiment, operational performance, community engagement, and emerging trends. He is passionate about using data to improve how people experience the systems they rely on every day and helping organizations make more informed, customer-focused decisions.
Outside of work, Justin is an avid reader, proud dog dad to a 5 month old mutt named Kiwi, the “Fun Uncle” for his nephew Cam, and a YPT-DC member!
He recently graduated from the 2025-2026 APTA ELP Class after a 10-month program, including a group capstone titled “Driving Governance: Effective Transit Boards for Agency Success.” YPT-DC took a moment to sit down and talk with Justin about his experience in ELP and give advice to early career professionals who are interested in applying for the program.
What is the APTA Emerging Leaders Program?
For those who may not be familiar, the APTA Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) is a national professional development program designed for early-career professionals in the public transportation industry. It brings together a small cohort of participants from across the country for a roughly 10-month experience focused on building leadership skills, expanding industry knowledge, and strengthening professional networks. Through a mix of workshops, conferences, mentorship, and peer collaboration, participants get exposure to different facets of the transit industry while learning directly from senior leaders and each other. The program is also known for creating a strong sense of community—many participants leave with lasting professional and personal connections and newfound perspectives on the field.
What is the structure and timeline of the program?
The program kicked off in June 2025 with the APTA Rail conference, we met again in September in Boston for APTA TRANSform and finally in May in Salt Lake City for the APTA Mobility conference. At each conference we attend special seminars, discussions, and go on field visits as a group. We’re then encouraged to stay for the conference programming itself to learn more about various parts of the industry. In between each conference, there are monthly virtual seminars which ELP members present on current projects they are working on at their organizations or agencies. In the last six months, you are mostly focused on working with your small group on your capstone project which typically (at least for our cohort) follows a literature review, stakeholder engagement and development cycle. The program culminates in presenting the capstones to the ELP class and board, then through a public webinar, and then at various APTA committee meetings and graduation at APTA Mobility.
How did you learn about the program?
I learned about the program through my supervisor and VP, who encouraged me to apply after he completed the APTA Leadership program. I was right in the sweet spot to apply, since at the time I had 3 years of experience in public transit and about one year of experience in supervising people. Since my company is small, I was lucky to not be competing internally among other applicants, and didn’t have a problem with getting a letter of recommendation from my CEO. Depending on the size of your organization, most people have to go through an internal application process first before applying, since each APTA member organization can only put forward one name.
Tell us more about being in a space with people all passionate about public transportation?
Everyone in the program is passionate about public transportation—it’s not just a job to them—and are dedicating their time and resources by participating in the program to make a positive impact in the industry, and ultimately public transportation in the United States. We are looking to be changemakers for a better tomorrow. That said, it was a life changing experience for me and reawakened/inspired my own passion for public transportation. After each conference, I felt motivated to show up more in my own role and apply the lessons and strategies I’d learned for my clients nationwide.
What new perspectives did you gain?
One of the reasons I applied was to expand my knowledge of all disciplines in the industry. Coming in, I primarily worked in Customer Experience (CX) and MarCom for clients in the transportation space, so I felt it was important that I understand their challenges and needs holistically. But throughout the program, I learned about planning, engineering, lobbying, and whatever “plan-gineering” is. It was really rewarding to grow close with people in the program from entirely different disciplines and backgrounds. One of the people I got closest with in the program is in Mechanical Engineering at her agency - we’d never have worked together professionally, but her different perspective on transit opened up a whole new world to me.
What was the most interesting or relevant lecture or experience you heard or had in the program?
We talked a lot in the program about Emotional Intelligence (“EQ”) and how it shows up in the workplace, especially in management roles. Before our very first session, we all took a test to identify our own strengths and weaknesses, then throughout the program we worked on how to lean on those strengths, how to develop those weaker areas, and where to rely on a team for everything else. We also talked about how to support your team, based on their own individual EQs. We learned how to be better managers by becoming better, more empathetic, people. Not necessarily a planned lecture/session, but the last few days of the program turned to a lot of very candid conversations. We talked to each other and to program alumni about role development, salary negotiation, and how to stand out at our organizations and in the industry. These impromptu conversations were just as impactful as the planned sessions.
What are a few benefits of the program?
The benefits are endless, but I’d say it is a huge resume builder and is seen as a prestigious honor to have taken part in. I’ve heard it being referred to as the “golden ticket” because you have so much exposure and access to thought leaders in the field. My capstone project involved interviewing C-Suite and Board Members directly. Outside of the program, I reached out to a handful of agency leaders and they made time in their schedule to talk to me - just because I mentioned being in the program.
What is your biggest takeaway?
My biggest takeaway from the ELP is the community. The informal peer mentoring aspect impacted me immensely. Being new to middle management is hard - dealing with pressure to deliver while managing other people - is a huge adjustment. Talking through these unique challenges, while we were all going through it for the first time together, brought us closer as we were able to have open conversations about our challenges and became each other’s support system and sounding boards along the way. I left the program with lasting friendships and experiences that I’ll carry with me for a long time.
What would you say to someone interested in applying?
Reach out to the ELP board for guidance! It might seem intimidating but they are excited to hear from you—the whole point of the program is to develop emerging leaders. They helped me so much with my application and even reviewed it before I submitted. The biggest tip I have is that they wanted to know what I do outside my 9am-5pm job. They are looking for well-rounded individuals that not only make an impact in their day job but in how they show up in their communities.
If you are interested in learning more about APTA’s ELP, do not hesitate to reach out to Justin to learn more about his experiences!